Ferrari California Test Drive Crash

Stupid driver, very bad

 

Appears to a "test drive", in Italy? I'm surprised the "salesman" let the guy drive that fast under those conditions. Looks like he gassed it right in the middle of the corner without setting up the car for it, skidded and flubbed the corrections.

Showing off in a fast car with other people onboard or other cars in company is often a very risky thing to do.

 

Guys, it's not a "test drive" in the traditional sense. I am relatively certain that this is a video from one of those rental companies around Maranello which offer guided road tours (and a video of your "test drive" for a premium). The general consortium of companies have a somewhat shabby reputation, and they have 'agents' lurking outside the Museum and other places trying to fetch business. They are infamous for allowing their customers to drive the cars in a poor fashion with little or no regard for traffic laws or the safety of others.

Notice how the 'instructor' is guiding him into incorrect lanes, through at least one red light, telling him to speed in dense traffic etc. (I even think the instructor gives a handsign for him to give the car power just as he enters the residential road where he spins).

A quick search on youtube will provide testament to my statements, there are videoes of numerous near-accidents where the consequences could have been very severe. I particularly recall a speeding Scud which nearly hit an oncoming car at close to 200 km/h. I would not call it unreasonable to assume thay the outcome of an head-on collision at those speeds is likely to be fatal for all parties involved...

If you are a calm-witted and reasonable driver, it's not a problem to do the tour. But if you're a boy racer with an urge to drive like a dimwit on the public road you should stay far away from such powerful machinery... Unfortunately it appears that a fair portion of the customers that these businesses attract belong to latter category.

 

Yes, this so-called "test drive" video is looking more and more fishy.

I was going through it again to try and catch some of the points you mentioned and noticed the cover of the driver-side pop-up roll-over protection was not secured became loose, literally coming off (at 1:23) during the drive. Why would the cover be so loose at all unless maybe the pop-up has deployed before?

I wonder who originally posted the video. Hopefully, such dangerous outfits will find themselves out of business soon enough.

 

Quick rundown (skimming through video now just to note a few obvious things)

0:08 - instructor seems to communicate he should look to overtake the car in front.
1:17 - unsafe overtake
1:30 - instructor urges him to keep speeding
1:44 - wrong lane and red light
2:05 - extremely high speed through junction (I believe the passenger says 180 km/h)

I would say the driving starting from ca 1:20 is overly hazardious.

 

Now I know why they kept the protective red seat covers on while driving.

Avoiding brown stains.

 

Turn the steering all the way and floor the gas pedal, isn't this part of drifting show??? Even a 200 hp car would drift that way.

 

Good work overcorrecting.

I was actually expecting him to do something stupid on the straightaways.

 

Can anyone translate what's being said after the crash?

 

The instructor if we can call him that repeated several times that he had told him to go slow. All this interspersed with blasphemies and words not exactly elegant to repeat here, although I probably don't know if technically outside Italy blasphemies have a meaning..

 

Hah! Yeah right...

 

Did this happen in Mode: CST off?

 

Good question and based on the way the car skidded, the reckless nature of these people, I wouldn't be surprised if the car was driven in CST-off mode.

 

Maybe, maybe not. Saw the video and the steering wheel was turned and cannot see the manatino switch. I've driven my F430 in "Wet" mode in a complete open parking lot to test the traction control and made fast turns and it is possible to still loose control.


Sent from my Ferrari F430 & 360

 

Wonder how they deal with the damage in Italy? Does the driver have to pay? I remember doing the same kind of tour in Paris and I drove a red California near Champs-Élysées and the instructor said I have to surrender my passport, I get it back after the tour. If the accident is not my fault, I don't have to pay BUT if I caused the accident because I failed to listen to the instructor or driving recklessly, then I have to pay for the damage, hence the reason why he holds my passport.


Sent from my Ferrari F430 & 360

 

You can have all the aides in the world, but if you drive too fast or make fast suddent changes with the steering wheel ect. that upsets the car, you can crash anything. TC and ESC will help, but it's won't correct for stupidity. This could easily happen in sport if the driver is inexperienced or wreckless. In thiis case, he looked to be both.

I bet the bodyshops in Maranello love these tours.

 

Thank you for the translation. Yup, blasphemies have a meaning outside of Italy too.

I see you're from Lucca. It's one of our favourite places in Europe, My wife and I have some friends who used to live there. What a beautiful place to be

 

Highly unskilled driver. Sounded like he actually hit the gas mid corner and look at his hands position on the wheel, atrocious.

Sadly, it seems this is the new breed of poseurs ferrari is appealing to. I people wonder as in the other thread, why no one shows up at Ferrari DE's. These arn't actual driving or car enthusiasts buying these cars hadly anymore. They just want it as a fashion statement, like a hand bag or something.

 

Oh thank you! What a beautiful thought

 

The Manettino is in the Sport position which could mean it's A: in sport B: CST

What does this have to do with anything? It's a rental, smarty pants...

 

No airbag deployment???

 

I'm pretty sure they abide by regular insurance policies for high-value rentals. There is almost always a (high) personal waiver that is deductible in case of damage, regardless og who's "fault" it appears to be.

You will have to forward a claim to the responsible party's insurance holder, if you want your money back, and the damage is not your fault. (Often backed by a police report on the accident).